Sandra Coulberson

Sandra (Sandee) LaNeise Coulberson was born May 14, 1962, in Berlin, Germany. Her proud parents, Willie G., and Beatrice P. Coulberson welcomed her with great joy! After a short stint in Germany, the family left and returned to the United States of America – to Fayetteville, North Carolina, where she was raised from age 2. While in Fayetteville, her favorite memories were of playing with her many friends, especially her “besties” Pamela Lynne Leavy and Beverley Charlene Johnson. She doesn’t even remember meeting them, but they have always been there! Sandee attended public schools in the Cumberland County NC system and was a proud graduate of E.E. Smith Senior High School in 1980. She was honored to have been Miss Junior and Miss E.E. Smith while there, as well as being in the Marching Band and a member of the Smith 16. After high school, she attended and graduated from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee at the recommendation of her aunt, a high school guidance counselor. It was here that she decided to go into Public Health Management. She met and stayed in touch with many friends over the years and loved attending the Fisk reunions to reconnect with those she had lost contact with. She then went on to attend and graduate from her favorite ACC school, The University of Chapel Hill, NC where she received her Master of Public Health degree in Health Education in 1986. She developed numerous friendships there and loved hanging out with her friends and traveling on shopping or girls’ trips. Following graduation from UNC, Sandee spent exactly one year in Fayetteville where she worked at the Stedman Wade Community Health Center as a Health Educator. She decided her next assignment in life would lead her to the big city of Atlanta, Georgia - based on her experiences during a visit on one of these exciting girls’ trips while in graduate school. As they say the rest is history! She began her Atlanta career at West End Medical Center after receiving a Manpower Access to Community Health (MATCH) Internship. While there she was introduced to this wonderful man who would become her husband for life. John Cicero Crawford, II, PA-C and Sandee married on December 23, 1990. Her one dream for coming to Atlanta was to establish her career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sandee began her federal career in March 1989, at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) as an executive administrative assistant. Sandee later became a health communication specialist and participated in numerous site visits and meetings to Superfund hazardous waste sites, working alongside communities to address health-related concerns that stemmed from living near hazardous sites. Early in her career, she was fortunate to have had two great inspirational mentors at ATSDR. Barry L. Johnson, PhD and Carol Lewis were the first leaders to truly support and invest in her by providing opportunities that set her up for career growth. It was this investment that inspired her to mentor others for their future career growth. In addition to working in ATSDR, Sandee was assigned to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), where she served as project officer for the Dog Bite, Residential Fire, and Elderly Falls Prevention program in the Division for Unintentional Injury Prevention (DUIP). While at DUIP, Sandee had the opportunity to manage budgets, personnel and administrative actions for her team. The opportunity honed her management skills as she learned deputy chief functions. She later moved to the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD), where she served as a deputy in NCBDDD’s Division for Health and Human Disability (DHDD). Following her assignment with NCBDDD, she joined the Division of Adult and Community Health’s (DACH) Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Program, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP). During this period, she was part of the management team that “stood up” the newly formed Division of Community Health (DCH) where she worked in both the Research and Evaluation Branch (RSEB) and the Training, Translation, and Communications Branch (TTCB). Sandee culminated her 30 years of federal service as deputy of the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP)’s Applied Research and Evaluation Branch (AREB). Other career accomplishments included working in the Office of the Deputy Director for Non-Infectious Diseases (previously known as the Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, Injury and Environmental Health). She also participated in a two-year Interagency Personnel Agreement (IPA), with the Minority Health Professions Foundation as a Minority Health Program manager and worked with staff across the agency to address minority health and health equity. She managed program coordinators for multiple CDC funded projects and was on the first CDC/ATSDR Workforce Diversity Committee. Sandee served as an emergency responder in Orlando, Florida for Hurricane Rita, and was deployed to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the Zika Response. Sandee was grateful to have had such a wonderful career at CDC and was thankful to have been able to work with so many talented, caring, and driven colleagues who were similarly committed to protecting the nation’s health. She was privileged to have completed a successful 30+ year career in public health. Following her retirement in 2019, she and hubby John traveled frequently! Locally, they loved taking trips across Georgia, North Carolina and Florida on their boat and just chilling at their homes. As we celebrate Sandee’s life and legacy, we will always remember that she never ever held a grudge and the only things that irritated her were bad coffee and when the UNC Tar Heels basketball team lost a game which would make her lose it. She was incredibly generous to loved ones, Fisk University and other charities. She regularly donated to roadside solicitors without hesitation. Sandee’s parents and many close family members and friends are deceased, but she leaves to cherish her memory her devoted and loving husband John; close cousins – Reynauld, Travita, Wanda, Felecia, and Rosalind; other family members; friends and loved ones including her two God children Ernest Cameron and Christa Cummings. Kristina Brown, who like a daughter, is also much cherished. https://vimeo.com/event/4548034

Tributes

Sandra Coulberson

May 14, 1962 - August 17, 2024